Nathanael Greene in The American Revolution

Nathanael Greene (1742-1786) was a general in the American Revolution who also served in the Rhode Island assembly. He fought with George Washington at the battles of Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Valley Forge. In 1780, after General Horatio Gates was defeated at Camden, Greene took command of the Carolina campaign and helped to turn the tide of the war by winning a series of battles in the South. Greene, a master military strategist, was known as "the fighting Quaker" for his paradoxical combination of military skill and pacifist faith.

Greene reorganized the southern contingent of the Continental Army, and with the help of guerilla bands in the mountains, he waged a successful war of attrition against the British. The Americans inflicted heavy losses on the British in skirmishes throughout the first half of 1781. By fall of 1781, Greene reduced British control in the South to only the cities of Charleston and Savannah, while savage fighting continued between Whigs and Tories in the backcountry. In 1782, the British evacuated Charleston.